128. DEVELOPING PATIENCE Proverbs 16:32

The Bible says that when you pray, God can answer instantly. But nowhere in scripture are you offered instant patience. Patience is a quality of character, and character is built over a life time of walking with God through good times and bad. One Bible teacher says patience is just “Faith taking its time”!! Here’s how God develops patience in us; (1) By Interruptions.:- You sit down to dinner and your phone rings. You are in the shower and someone comes to the door. Your working to meet a deadline and visitors arrive. It is said that when Brahms was writing his famous Lullaby, he encountered so many interruptions, it took him seven years to complete his composition. And someone joked, “When you’re writing a Lullaby, you need all those interruptions to keep you from falling asleep at the piano!! (2) By Delays;- We don’t want to wait. We have a microwave mindset – We want what we want - in a few seconds. We want fast food, quick cook pasta and instant coffee. We are like the man who prayed “Lord give me patience and Lord I want it right now.” (3) Irritations;- Long queues, Lost keys, Late planes, Phone calls, Cold food, Flat tyres, Occupied bathrooms, Traffic jams… , the list goes on. Do you know that 90 percent of heart attack sufferer's have the hurried type 0f personality? The Bible says in (Proverbs 19:2) “A person in a hurry makes mistakes.” We speak of the patience of Job, who said in (14:14) “All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.” Pray about it, exercise patience, and be confident in God. Patience begins by changing how you view some things. When you’re impatient, You have a narrow perspective, All you see is yourself, your needs, your goals, your schedules and your desires and the way people are messing up your life. Basically, the root of impatience is selfishness. Try to see things from the other person’s point of view. If you want to succeed in marriage, try to see things from your partners point of view, success as a parent will be a great deal easier if you try to see things from your child's point of view, Business success is achieved when managers look at their customers point of view, Employers have a deal less staff problems when they listen to their employee’s gripes, you don’t necessarily have to always comply, but you do need to listen. Try to discover why the other person feels like they do. If you don’t deal with irritations and interruptions, you wont develop patience. If you are living under the Christian banner, you must accept the truth that God is directing your steps, and that real trust doesn’t require explanation. In (Proverbs 20:24) we read “The Lord directs our steps so why try to understand everything along the way” Patience is a mark of maturity. When babies don’t get what they want instantly, they get upset. Ask yourself, How far am I along the way of achieving patience? Maturity includes the ability to wait. Or teach you to live with delayed gratification. In (Proverbs 14:29) we read “A person of understanding and wisdom who learns to see life from another’s (or God’s) point of view is able to be patient. So pray and ask God to give you a new perspective on life, situations and people. Here are a couple more things one needs to do to develop patience. (1) Develop a sense of humour (Proverbs 14:30) says “A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life.” and Scientific studies reveal that people who laugh a lot, live longer lives. And humour is a stress dissolver, it’s an antidote to apprehension, it’s a tranquilliser without any nasty side effects, it’s a shock absorber for the pot-holes of life. Someone once asked President Abraham Lincoln how he handled the tensions of the Civil War, He answered “If it hadn’t been for laughter, I wouldn't have made it.” When you can laugh at it, you can live with it. And besides, if you learn to laugh at your problems you will never run out of things to laugh at!! Think about that. (2) Deepen your love:. (1 Corinthians 13:4) Paul writes “Love is very patient) That means, when you are impatient, you are being unloving. When you love somebody, that means you are concerned about their wishes, distress, needs and point of view – not just your own; When you are filled with love, almost nothing can provoke you to anger or impatience. On the other hand, when you are lacking in love, impatience and anger are lurking at the door. Under pressure we are all very vulnerable and whatever is inside will come out. So Apply (Ephesians 4:2) “Deepen your love and be patient making allowances for each other and their faults because of your love” And one more thought here; When you learn to love people who irritate you, you are taking a weapon out of Satan’s hand that he can’t use against you any more. The world often admires and even condones impatience, and treats it as an attribute, rather than a “character dent” with words like “She doesn’t suffer fools gladly” or “Be careful, he has a short fuse.” The Christian should be able to say to him or her self “Hang on, take a deep breath and count to ten.” Today pray, “Lord make me a more patient person for the sake of your Holy name.” One of a Christian’s characteristics is P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E. You will notice in listing the fruit of the Spirit, (Galatians 5:22) Patience comes right after peace. Why? Because when you have peace in your heart, practically nothing can cause you to feel impatient. But these qualities are the fruit of the Spirit, not the effort of the flesh. You can’t psych yourself up and say, “I’m going to be patient if it kills me.” If it is the genuine fruit of the Spirit, you will have genuine inner peace, and certain circumstances wont bother you the way they used to. Why? Because you are depending and listening to that little voice from the Lord. Patience is a kind of faith. It says, I trust God. I believe He is bigger than this problem. I believe He has His hand in these irritations and can use them in my life for good. Frustration says, “Why did this happen?” Faith says, “God what do you want me to learn here.?” Abraham was 100 years old when his second son Isaac was born. That’s a long time to be patient. The toughest time of waiting is when you are in a hurry, and God isn’t. It’s hard to be patient when you are waiting for an answer to prayer; For God to change your financial conditions, or your health problems, or your family failures and fall-outs or that relative who always seems to rub you up the wrong way. But, Being patient is not only the evidence of your faith, but also the test of your faith. It’s at such times that God whispers in your ear, (Psalm 46:10) “Be still and know that I am God.” In other words, He is saying “I’m in control, working on a better plan for your good. Trust me.” Thank you for reading these thoughts on “Developing Patience,” Most people don’t know or realise they are impatient and satan wants them to stay that way, why? Because it’s a spiritual problem that is often the bases of sin (Pride, anger, selfishness etc.) in our lives. Therefore must be eradicated spiritually, we all suffer from impatience from time to time, occasionally or even regularly. However, if we are too proud or arrogant to recognise and admit our faults in this area, we will never deal with impatience. Remember this... IT WILL become a stumbling block in your life, And stumbling blocks restrict growth and prevent us from getting close to Christ So deal with it. Take it to …. Jesus. God Bless, Phaline.